


dividing every question 'til the questions are complete

by trustingno1



Category: Modern Family (TV)
Genre: Coming Out, F/F, Gen, Lesbian Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-25
Updated: 2010-12-25
Packaged: 2017-10-14 02:51:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/144542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trustingno1/pseuds/trustingno1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katy. She's a Mathlete, and she plays in the marching band, and she sometimes sits with Alex in AP Physics, and she plays volleyball, which Alex thinks is really cool (she never used to, but lately, she thinks there's something vaguely impressive about it). And one time? One time, she asked Alex what the formula for torque was, even though Alex is, like, 99% sure she already knew it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	dividing every question 'til the questions are complete

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Semmi (semirose)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/semirose/gifts).



> I really liked your prompt <3 I'd love to see Alex happy with a girl. Title from Delta Goodrem's "The Analyst".

"Uncle Mitch," she says, a little hesitantly, although she hasn't called him that for years.

 

"Oh!" he reaches for his wallet as Cam scoops up Lily. "How much are you charging these days?"

 

"That's not what I - fifteen bucks."

 

"An _hour_?" he replies, mock-scandalized, and she shrugs.

 

"You know anyone else willing to babysit on a Saturday night?" and as counts out notes into her outstretched palm, she adds, "Um. Can I ask you something?"

 

"Of course," he says, coming around to drop onto the sofa next to her, his arm stretching out behind her.

 

She picks at her thumbnail. "When you ... how did you - how did you tell grandpa that you were ... you know," she looks up at him, then, blinks a couple of times, " _Gay_."

 

"Repeatedly," Mitchell mutters, and she hears Cam snort with laughter in the kitchen.

 

"Huh?"

 

"Nothing," he says, normally, crossing his legs.

 

"So who is she?" Cam asks, leaning against the doorframe, and Mitchell doesn't take his eyes off Alex, but his eyebrows rise slightly in surprise.

 

"Just - this girl at school."

 

"Mmnn-hmm," Cam hums, knowingly.

 

"She's - she's a Mathlete."

 

"It's no charades, but it'll do," Cam says - and, smiling very slightly, Mitchell reaches out like he's playing a piano for a moment. " _Casablanca_ ," Cam continues, and, seriously, how is _this_ helpful?

 

 

 

*

 

 

So, yeah. Katy. She's a Mathlete, and she plays in the marching band, and she sometimes sits with Alex in AP Physics, and she plays volleyball, which Alex thinks is really cool (she never used to, but lately, she thinks there's something vaguely impressive about it). And one time? One time, she asked Alex what the formula for torque was, even though Alex is, like, 99% sure she already knew it. So Alex tried to ask her if she wanted to go to the movies or something, maybe, but when Katy smiled at her over their notes, she choked (and Alex Dunphy is not a choker, except now, she kind of _is_ ) and asked if she could borrow Katy's calculator, and that was really, really embarrassing.

 

 

*

 

 

"I knew it," Haley says, from her bed, without looking up from her phone.

 

"Haley!" she protests.

 

"What?" and it's wide-eyed and exasperated, and why did she ever think _Haley_ would be a good person to confide in?

 

"Forget it."

 

Haley rolls her eyes, tilts her head to the side, her hair falling over her shoulder in a way Alex sometimes-maybe-kind-of envies. "It's not a big _deal_ ," she says, and Alex bristles a little at that, because, um, _yeah it is_ , but Haley's still looking at her, eyebrows raised expectantly, and _ohhh_. Haley's being all _nice_ and trying to be a good _sister_.

 

Weird.

 

Alex nods, then, once. "Thanks," she says, and Haley goes back to her text. "You know," she adds, pausing at the door, "Mom's wrong. You'll definitely get into at least one college," and in the second it takes for that to sink in, she closes the door behind her, in time to muffle Haley's high-pitched, " _What?"_

 

 

 

*

 

 

"I kind of knew," Claire whispers, and Alex presses her cheek into the cushion in her mom's lap.

 

"You did?"

 

"Sweetie," Claire says gently, stroking her hair, "when Josh dropped you home, you _shook_ his _hand_ ," and it takes Alex a second, but -

 

"You were _watching us?_ "

 

There's a pause. "Let's not lose focus here," Claire says.

 

 

 

*

 

 

When she tells grandpa (and she doesn’t want to, because this feels like a total over-share, but her uncles insisted she start now, or something), Claire has his elbow in a tight grip, and Mitch is muttering things like, “No jokes about k.d. lang. No asking if she’s going to cut off her hair. No-”

 

“Oh, geez,” her grandpa sighs, pulling her into a hug.

 

“I love you,” he says into her ear. “And if anyone tries to give you trouble, you just let me know.”

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

 

"I'm going to the movies," she announces, grabbing a jacket before her mother can remind her.

 

"Have fun," Claire says, and Alex almost - almost - makes it out of the house before, "Wait!" She tucks her hair behind her ears, asks, not as casually as she'd have liked, Alex is sure, "Who - who with?"

 

"Katy," Alex replies, goes to pull the front door shut behind her, but Claire's foot stops it.

 

"Who's Katy?"

 

"You don't know her," she tries to pull the door shut again.

 

"Uh huh." Claire smoothes down the front of her shirt, tries again, "A friend? Or ..."

 

"Oh my _God_ ," Alex replies, horrified, and Luke, sitting next to Phil on the sofa, pops his head up to noisily kiss the back of his hand.

 

Haley appears at the top of the stairs, then. "Just get one box of popcorn," she says, confidently. "It works _every_ time."

 

"Haley," their mother hisses, through a smile - then, to Alex, "So, this is someone ... special?"

 

" _Mom_!" she protests.

 

"OK, fine," Claire holds her hands up in mock-surrender. "Go. Have a good time."

 

"Thank you," Alex pulls the door halfway closed before doubling back, pecking her mom on the cheek.

 

Claire stands by the front door for a long moment, playing absent-mindedly with her necklace.

 

"Honey," Phil says, rising from the sofa. "She's going to be fine," off Claire's dubious look, "With ... whatever you're worried about."

 

"You really have no idea what just happened, do you?" Claire doesn't really ask.

 

" _Not_ a clue," Phil agrees.


End file.
